LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambia’s acting president on Tuesday rescinded his decision to dismiss the ruling party’s chief in a bid to defuse a political conflict that triggered overnight riots.

The reversal was announced by acting President Guy Scott and Edgar Lungu, who was restored as secretary general of the ruling Patriotic Front party. Police and demonstrators clashed late Monday in protests against Scott, a white Zambian who fired Lungu following the death last week of President Michael Sata. The 77-year-old president died in a London hospital on Oct. 28 after a long illness.

Scott’s move to defuse public anger came after a heated meeting in which senior party members urged Scott to reinstate Lungu, who is also minister of defense and justice and is considered a possible presidential candidate. Under the constitution, Zambia must hold a presidential election within 90 days of a president’s death.

“The position of secretary general will remain with Honorable Edgar Lungu,” the statement said.

Former Vice President Scott has said he is not interested in running for president and is in any case barred from the office because his parents were not Zambian by birth or descent.

The riots started Monday night in several places in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, including the University of Zambia and a government building designated as a place for Sata’s mourners to gather, according to witnesses. Protesters had descended on the building, Belvedere Lodge, with stones, machetes and other weapons, and police fired tear gas into the venue to clear demonstrators from the area. Order was restored early Tuesday.

The protesters were angry over the dismissal of Lungu, who said Scott’s act was illegal. He accused Scott, who is of Scottish descent, of “insulting our culture.”

Lungu was acting president when Sata died in London.

Sata’s body arrived in Lusaka on Saturday and was taken to a conference center for public viewing until the burial on Nov. 11. The conference center has not been affected by the rioting, which ended early Tuesday, though protesters warned they could return to the streets.

Before Lungu’s reinstatement, Moses Siwali, spokesman for the home affairs ministry, had urged political groups to meet peacefully to resolve the situation.

“We don’t want Zambia to go into turmoil,” he said.

Protester Mary Tembo earlier said Scott, the acting president, was causing confusion. She urged him to “go to Scotland,” saying Zambians want to mourn their president in peace.

This Monday May 12, 2014 file image taken from video by Nigeria’s Boko Haram terrorist network, shows the alleged missing girls abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok. Nigerias government and Islamic extremists from Boko Haram have agreed to an immediate cease-fire, officials said Friday Oct. 17, 2014. The fate of more than 200 missing schoolgirls abducted by the insurgents six months ago remains unclear. Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said their release is still being negotiated. (AP Photo/File)

ABUJA, Nov 1 (Reuters) – A man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said more than 200 girls kidnapped by the group six months ago had been “married off” to its fighters, contradicting Nigerian government claims they would soon be freed.

Nigeria’s military says it killed Shekau a year ago, and authorities said in September that they had also killed an imposter posting as him in videos. In the latest recording it is hard to see the man’s face as he his filmed from a distance.

But it is likely to raise grave doubts about whether talks between a Boko Haram faction and the government in neighboring Chad will secure the release of the girls, who were kidnapped from a secondary school in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, in April.

“We have have married them off and they are all in their husbands’ houses,” the man claiming to be Shekau says.

“The over 200 Chibok girls have converted to Islam, which they confess is the best religion. Either their parents accept this and convert too or they can die.”

The majority of the kidnapped girls were Christians.

The man in the video also denied there was a ceasefire, and denounced Ahmadu, who says he represents Boko Haram in Chad.

“Who says we are dialoguing or discussing with anybody? Are you talking to yourselves? We don’t know anybody by the name of Danladi. If we meet him now we will cut off his head,” the man in the video says.

“All we are doing is slaughtering people with machetes and shooting people with guns … War is what we want.”

He says also that they are holding a “white man.” The only known hostage seized in the northeast is a German teacher kidnapped from a college in the northeastern city of Gombe in July by gunmen widely assumed to be linked to Boko Haram.

Shekau’s denial of the ceasefire appears supported by the violence since the government announced it two weeks ago. It also raises doubts about the actual influence of Ahmadu.

The five-year-old campaign for an Islamic state by Boko Haram, which has killed thousands and whose name means “Western education is sinful,” has become by far the biggest menace to the security of Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer.

Its fighters have attacked targets almost every day for weeks and last week seized control of Mubi, the home town of Nigeria’s defense chief Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh. It was Badeh who announced the ceasefire.

They robbed banks, burned down houses and hoisted their black flag over the Emir’s palace, killing dozens of people and forcing thousands to flee, witnesses in Mubi said.

A car bomb thought to have been planted by Boko Haram killed at least 10 people at a crowded bus stop in Gombe on Friday morning, emergency services said.

The government has blamed the violence on Boko Haram’s allied criminal networks that it cannot control. There are also thought to be several competing factions within the group. (Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Louise Ireland)

A security source confirmed the attack and said the military was sending in reinforcements to try to push back the attackers, but he could not confirm details, as operations were ongoing. A spokesman for the military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Beatice Elisha, a civil servant trapped in the town, said he heard gunfire north of the town when the attack started earlier in the day. “They were burning houses and many people have died,” he said. “There was gunfire all over the place.”

Violence in Nigeria’s troubled northeast has surged since the government announced a ceasefire with the rebels nearly two weeks ago to pursue talks in neighboring Chad aimed at freeing more than 200 girls kidnapped in April.

Foreign minister Aminu Wali said on Monday that the surge in violence would not jeopardize the talks, but the government has stressed that five years of insurgency have also become mixed up with broader criminality. And since Boko Haram itself is highly fragmented it is impossible to guarantee all factions will respect the ceasefire.

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents killed at least 17 people and abducted dozens in a series of attacks in the central region of Nigeria’s northeast Borno state over the weekend. At least 25 girls were kidnapped from a remote northeastern town a few days earlier.

Boko Haram have killed thousands of people and abducted hundreds of people since launching an uprising against the government of Africa’s top oil producer in 2009. (Reporting by Imma Ande, Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Dominic Evans)

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 24: President of Zambia Michael Chilufya Sata speaks during the U.N. General Assembly on September 24, 2013 in New York City. Over 120 prime ministers, presidents and monarchs are gathering this week for the annual meeting at the temporary General Assembly Hall at the U.N. headquarters while the General Assembly Building is closed for renovations. (Photo

LUSAKA, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Zambia’s Guy Scott became Africa’s first white head of state in 20 years on Wednesday after the president, “King Cobra” Michael Sata, died in a London hospital aged 77.

Scott, a Cambridge-educated economist born to Scottish parents, was Sata’s vice president. He takes over as interim leader until an election in three months, making him the first white African leader since South Africa’s F.W. de Klerk lost to Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election that ended apartheid.

“Elections for the office of president will take place within 90 days. In the interim I am acting president,” Scott said in a brief televised address.

“The period of national mourning will start today. We will miss our beloved president and comrade.”

Scott, 70, will not be eligible to run for the presidency because of citizenship restrictions, analysts say.

Sata, an abrasive figure nicknamed “King Cobra” because of his venomous tongue, died on Tuesday in London, where he was receiving medical treatment, the government said earlier. He had been president of Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer since 2011.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed, but Sata had been ill for some time. He was being treated at London’s King Edward VII hospital when he died, the website Zambian Watchdog reported.

“As you are aware, the president was receiving medical attention in London,” cabinet secretary Roland Msiska announced on state television. “The head of state passed away on October 28. President Sata’s demise is deeply regretted.”

SHARP TONGUE

Sata, whose populist platform included defending workers’ rights, was often fiercely critical of the foreign mining companies operating in Zambia’s copper belt. Analysts said his death could prompt a rise in investment in the country.

“President Sata has been a divisive figure for Zambia on the economic front, espousing increasingly authoritarian and ad hoc policy measures against the crucial mining sector in recent years, which has hampered investment,” South African consultancy ETM said.

“The president’s passing could make way for a more reformist administration and help to remove broader policy uncertainties.”

Sata, whose varied CV included stints as a policeman, car assembly worker, trade unionist and platform sweeper at London’s Victoria station, left Zambia on Oct. 19 for medical treatment, accompanied by his wife and family members.

Defense Minister Edgar Lungu, secretary general of Sata’s Patriotic Front party, had to lead celebrations last week of the 50th anniversary of Zambia’s independence from Britain.

Concern over Sata’s health had been mounting since June, when he disappeared from the public eye without explanation and was then reported to be receiving medical treatment in Israel.

He missed a scheduled speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September amid reports that he had fallen ill in his New York hotel. A few days before that, he had attended the opening of parliament in Lusaka, joking: “I am not dead.”

It was a typically no-nonsense denial from a politician not known for diplomatic niceties.

“I haven’t bloody lost so don’t waste my time,” he barked at a BBC reporter in 2008 after results showed he had indeed lost an election to his main rival, Rupiah Banda, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

Although he toned down the nationalist, anti-Chinese rhetoric that finally helped him oust Banda in a 2011 election, he would still deliver occasional rants at the foreign miners.

A year ago, he threatened to remove the mining license of Konkola Copper mines, Zambia’s biggest private employer, because of plans to lay off 1,500 workers. During the row, the company’s foreign chief executive had his work permit revoked.

The Zambian kwacha fell 2 percent against the dollar after Sata’s death was announced. Traders said it was unlikely to suffer any prolonged weakness because of the underlying health of an economy expected to grow 7 percent this year.

“Obviously, there will be a sentimental temptation to go long on dollars, but I’m also quite confident the central bank will do everything it can to protect the currency,” one Lusaka-based trader said.

“In terms of the economy, everything should still be on track.” (Writing by Ed Cropley and Joe Brock; Editing by Catherine Evans)

A man seals mouth with a branded sticker reading “Bring Back Our Girls Now” to campaign for the release of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls during a rally in the Nigerian capital Abuja on October 14, 2014. AFP PHOTO/PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)

YOLA/ABUJA, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Suspected Boko Haram militants kidnapped at least 25 girls in an attack on a remote town in northeastern Nigeria, witnesses said, despite talks on freeing over 200 other female hostages they seized in April.

John Kwaghe, who witnessed the attack and lost three daughters to the abductors, and Dorathy Tizhe, who lost two, said the kidnappers came late in the night, forcing all the women to go with them, then later releasing the older ones.

The attack cast further doubt on government reports that it has secretly reached a temporary ceasefire with the rebels in order to secure the release of more than 200 schoolgirls they are holding hostage.

“We are confused that hours after the so-called ceasefire agreement has been entered between the Federal Government and Boko Haram insurgents, our girls were abducted by the insurgents,” Kwaghe said.

“We urge the government to please help rescue our daughters without further delay, as we are ready to die searching.”

Nearly a week after the government announced a ceasefire deal with Boko Haram, which it said would include the release of the girls kidnapped from the secondary school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria in April, there is still no sign of them being freed.

Talks to release the schoolgirls are taking place this week between the government and a Boko Haram representative in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, but they are shrouded in secrecy.

CEASEFIRE DOUBTS

In a separate attack, a bomb exploded late on Wednesday at a bus station in the town of Azare in northern Nigeria’s Bauchi state, killing at least five people and wounding 12, police said. They did not comment on who was behind the attack, although Boko Haram is likely to be the prime suspect.

The insurgents have repeatedly bombed public places since launching an uprising demanding an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria five years ago. They have stepped up their campaign this year, setting off deadly blasts across the country that killed hundreds.

They have killed many thousands and are increasingly targeting civilians in violence seen as the biggest threat to the stability of Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer.

“The entire surrounding (area) has been cordoned off … No arrest has yet been made, but an investigation has commenced.”

The increasing attacks have raised doubts over the ceasefire, although Boko Haram is so factionalised it is possible a truce has been reached with one group while others continue with violence.

A Chadian diplomat told Reuters that a deal could still be reached if this faction has ultimate control over the girls — although analysts say that they could be divided between several cooperating factions.

Boko Haram, which only communicates messages via jihadist videos of a man claiming to be its leader Abubakar Shekau, has not yet commented on the alleged ceasefire. (Reporting by Isaac Abrak; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Bate Felix and Tom Heneghan)

Fighters of Libya’s Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) drive their pick up truck mounted with a machine gun near a burnt car, south of the town of Wershfana on October 13, 2014, some 30 kilometres west of the Libyan capital Tripoli. Wershefana saw clashes between Fajr Libya mainly Islamist alliance with gunmen accused of being loyal to the former regime of slain dictator Moamar Kadhafi. AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD TURKIA (Photo credit should read MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images)

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Clashes in Central African Republic’s capital have resulted in “many casualties,” the International Committee for the Red Cross said Thursday, marking the most significant violence in the city since a United Nations force took over peacekeeping last month.

The violence complicated relief efforts. Doctors Without Borders said its staff was staying home Thursday because of the dangers, and the ICRC said its workers “were subjected to direct threats” as they tried to recover bodies.

“It’s truly regrettable that such actions can jeopardize any attempt to help the wounded,” said Antoine Mbao Bogo, the national president of the Central African Red Cross. His organization provided an initial tally of 12 deaths, but staffers did not have access to all neighborhoods.

The violence began Tuesday when a former fighter with a mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition was killed by anti-Balaka Christian militias who mutilated his body before burning it, witnesses said.

The man had been accused of launching two grenades, one in an anti-Balaka stronghold in the north of the city, prompting the anti-Balaka fighters to chase after him.

“He was chased by anti-Balaka fighters who caught him, killed him and burned his body,” Bangui resident Wilfried Maitre said.

Reprisal attacks ensued, with Muslim fighters killing two people, including the driver of a taxi, witnesses said. Other taxi drivers then staged a protest, raising tensions.

Later on Wednesday, anti-Balaka fighters paraded through the streets, showing off their weapons and shooting into the air, said Pieterjan Wouda of Doctors Without Borders. “That’s something we haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.

Heavy weapons could be heard Thursday morning, Wouda said, adding that Doctors Without Borders staff would be staying home because it was not safe to move around.

The mostly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition toppled the president of a decade last year, installing their chief, Michel Djotodia, as the country’s new leader. Widespread human rights abuses combined with escalating violence in the capital in December and January led to Djotodia’s resignation.

The country is currently headed by transitional President Catherine Samba-Panza.

At least 5,000 people have died over nine months of sectarian violence in the country. The International Crisis Group warned last month that the transition was at risk of falling apart.

“The main armed groups are in disarray, lack clear leadership, seek to expand their areas of control and pursue banditry as much as politics,” the group warned.

From the clash at the Bay of Pigs to the Cuban missile crisis, American-Cuban relations have historically been perceived in as aggressive and confrontational. But behind the outward tensions lies a history of hidden communication and negotiations between both countries.

That’s the message of the new book by Peter Kornbluh and William LeoGrande. In “Back Channel To Cuba,” the authors recount their findings from more than 10 years of research, which appear to ultimately refute the conventional wisdom about relations between Havana and Washington, D.C.

“There’s a flipside to this history that is little known, but far more relevant today,” Kornbluh told HuffPostLive on Thursday. “That is the precedence of all the secret talks, not only to improve relations, but to actually change the framework to normal relations.”

Although in the past the will to reform the relationship never seemed to strike both countries at the same time, LeoGrande suggested that we may have finally reached a watershed moment.

“In both capitals now, I think we have a moment where the leadership recognizes that the past ought to be past and we should move into a new stage,” he said. “And it’s a matter of overcoming some of the political obstacles, particularly in the United States, to get that happening.”

Despite such obstacles, a chance for reconciliation could represent a huge opportunity for President Obama, whose approval ratings in the area of foreign policy have reached record lows.

“Barack Obama can’t run for reelection,” he said. “There’s really no political imperative for Obama to keep what he, himself, has said is a failed policy. … He’s had a hard time on the foreign policy front recently. This is a place where he could make serious gains and I think relatively easily because, as I’ve said, the Cubans have indicated that they are very interested in trying to normalize the relationship.”

Addis Ababa — The peace talks between the South Sudanese warring factions have seen a slow but encouraging progress as president Salva Kiir’s government has agreed to installation of federal system of governance.

Observers at the peace talks told Sudan Tribune on Saturday that various committees formed were working on different documents in order to agree on issues of security, governance and economy of the young troubled nation.

“Government negotiators have agreed to the call for federalism in South Sudan. This is a significant step and good gesture to reach a political settlement,” an observer close to the process said.

The rebel faction SPLM-in-Opposition under the leadership of the former vice-president, Riek Machar have been calling to restructure the South Sudanese state on the basis of federalism which the government had previously rejected.

The recent change of heart by the government is seen as a good gesture towards reaching a political settlement to end the 9-month-long civil war in the country.

Sources indicated that government negotiators have also agreed that a prime minister, which would be a nominee by the rebel group in the proposed transitional leadership power-sharing arrangements, would also run for public office. The latest development is a reverse to the IGAD protocol which denied the prime minister the right to contest in elections, a position previously supported by the government.

Machar’s opposition faction also suggested a prime minister would be the head of government and its security organs while the president would be the head of state who would be ceremonial in roles.

While the rebels agreed and preferred to discuss a parliamentary system similar to the leadership arrangements in Ethiopia, the government leaned towards adopting a system similar to the Grand Coalition which Kenya used between the former president Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga.

It is not clear whether the parties will beat the 45-day dateline imposed by IGAD within which to reach a final peace agreement.

Meanwhile the warring parties continue to trade accusations over the recent clashes in Upper Nile state which threatens to interrupt the oil production in the main oil fields of Paloich.

Tens of thousands of people have died and over 1.5 million displaced since the conflict within the ruling party turned violent in mid-December.

The IGAD-mediated peace process is seen as the only hope to peacefully end the conflict and avert the looming humanitarian crisis in the fragile region.

US President Barack Obama speaks addresses troops following a visit to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida on September 17, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — President Barack Obama reaffirmed Wednesday that he does not intend to send U.S. troops into combat against the Islamic State group, despite doubts about the ability of Iraqi forces, Kurdish fighters and Syrian rebels to carry out the ground fight on their own.

“The American forces do not and will not have a combat mission,” Obama told troops at MacDill Air Force Base.

It was a firm response to suggestions raised Tuesday by his top military commander that, under certain circumstances, American ground forces may be needed.

Obama said U.S. troops “will support Iraqi forces on the ground as they fight for their own country against these terrorists.”

But, he added, “As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.”

On that point, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was in agreement with Obama and stressed in a Wednesday interview with The Associated Press that he sees no need for other countries to send troops into Iraq to help fight the Islamic State group.

“Not only is it not necessary,” al-Abadi said. “We don’t want them. We won’t allow them.”